Kurinzela

Kurinzela is the newest edition to the Hefele household of Homoine in Inhambane Province, Mozambique. She is about 6 months old I would guess and such a little bundle of energy. I feel a little bit awkward that I have gotten a dog while my first little one is not even in the ground a month, but Africa operates on a different plane of existence. A colleague of mine brought her over the other day, after I spent some recoup time at the beach and burned myself for the first time in YEARS. She looks like a jack Russell terrier. Man, can she JUMP! That's why I'm thinking that she has some jack in her. My housekeeper is taking care of her right now and she and I had a long talk about "Kuri" coming into the household. I think I've achieved one of my goals in PC Moz because it was a Mozambican who brought me the dog. They realised how important Timisela was to me and realised that yes a dog can be part of the family too.

So now, I have a mountain of more little goals to get through and my PCV existence will be complete.

Ianito

PS. I put up Xmas lights the other day and shaped them as a Christmas tree. I'm very excited because I'll be at a family party of a good friend of mine. Kuri will be good company too.

RIP Timisela

So, my transition period to minha terra africana has been rough. But last weekend my dog got stolen from my yard. She was tied up for the night, just felt it was necessary. I tied her up loosely and in the morning she wasn't there. I didn't get too concerned because she had always gone through town before and always come back. I thought she must have just escaped. But anyway, I put the word out for people to keep looking for her. Tuesday morning of this week, I was sitting down to my cup of tea in the morning and got a beep from some one who had been on the look out for Timisela. She was found in the crossroads of the market behind the electricity building. Her throat was slit. she had been there for a couple of days I think because of the body was rigid. Anyway, i lost it. But people stepped out of the gawking crowd to help. Someone ran for a shovel. Others got some rope and a stick of bamboo to carry her back to my house. I was walking through my town crying my eyes out. But people were considerate and the woman that works at my house was AMAZING. They all worked together and got timisela burried in the field near my out house where she loved to play. She was a beautiful dog and will be remembered by this lonely PCV. But, if I get another dog, I have thought of another name. Kurinzela

HOPE

I'm feeling HOT HOT HOT

Back in Moz for a couple of days now and it is HOT HOT HOT. But that is most definitely how I like it. When I got back to my house, Julia was home but just went out to the market. Her sons were in the yard and so I went in. I was in my bedroom un packing when she came back into the yard. I was able to surprise her and she dropped the groceries and was REALLY happy to see me. Everyone was really happy to see me. I'm glad that I have this scar on my neck so I can actually get to show some physical evidence to people. Let me tell you my POrtuguese has expanded, really fast and turned really medical! :O) But since most things medical come from latin, its quite easy. Add an o, a or e and you've got portuguese. Thyroid is tyroide. Or at least that is how they pronounce it.

It is amazing though how some people don't change in there habbits. My school director is just as annoying and self righteous as ever. But now I've got a little more leverage because he sees and knows that I went home and came back BECAUSE I WANTED TO and like my site. One of my students also just sent a text saying he is really happy that I am back. It brought tears to my eyes. and made me realise why I am here.

Ian

back in Africa

Hello all

So this is the first post in a while I know. I have to apologize but most of you know what was wrong anyway. But after a long two day trip, I've made it back to Mozambique. I was so giddy on the plane today as I landed. Good thing I don't look suspicious. :O) But it was almost as if everything was suppossed to work out this way. As the plane was landing in Maputo, at the airport that anywhere else would be called an airstrip, it suddenly banked over the rest of the city and brought me over the Maputo Bay so I could get a good view of the skyline. After that we landed and I had a huge grin on my face. I'm so grateful I got to see all that I did get to see and for those I didn't I'll be seeing you soon. But hopefully that just means you will come and visit.

Tchau
Ianito in Maputo

An update

So, the shirt is exhibit A, the onion newspaper is exhibit B and the guy is going on trial tomorrow. I don't know what is going to happen. I was not told to show up there. I personally don't want to see that guy again but was told I can go recover exhibit A tomorrow afternoon.
I'll send you all another update soon

Ian

Peace Corps Believe it or NOT

First, let me tell you sorry about not posting in a long time but people who come visit me that my internet connection is a giraffe, elephant and african lady's head ride away from my house... no not really but let me tell you...Let me tell you what happened last weekend. It comes in the files of Believe it or not. I was walking around the big city in the area doing some errandswhen I decided to pass by the post office to check our mailbox. 5 volunteers in the area decided to share a box so it would come out as cheaper. Anyway, Jess has been texting me that a tee shirt and yankees hat were coming but I kept checking and it never came. So I'm walking by the p.o. and the guy working at the post office was wearing a pic of jess and felix on the tee shirt I was suppossed to be wearing. I didn't know what to do. First of all, I was alone, my portuguese doesn't stand up to emotion very well and I just didn't want to over react and kill him. So i called him over to where i was standing and let him have it. He said, the bastard, that he bought the shirt in the market! Jess could be making a mint if she can sell images of her son in african markets! So I told him to take me there but I was nervous that he was leading me into an ambush. So I ran into someone in the road I knew and she came with me. The woman who sold him the shirt in the market didn't show up that day, it was sunday. I said of course she didn't "bloody" show up, she lives in brooklyn!!!! Ooo I was so steamed. What was hysterical was two of my friends had been saying for a few months, we're not getting anything I think this guy is stealing. I thought they were crazy just because of time it takes to get from the USA to MOZ and the distance. But then I saw my damn nephew on a middle aged african's chest. The next day I went to the police with Peace Corps and with a collegue of mine who knows the story. We got a search warrent and searched his house. He has two (ish) one looks like a bombed out shell from Germany in WOrld war two. Found a recent national geographic but there was no address on it. At his house in the woods we found copies of the new york times, daily news, books in german and spanish, and the onion newspaper. Needless to say we got him. I didn't get anything but the tee shirt back but I think I'm only missing that package. But he gave me an amazing story that I will have for the rest of my life. ALso, my "greatest acheivement in Peace Corps" I threw a Mozambican in jail! you all who told me once that you were going to send something. Did you send it? I just want to keep track of what is coming my way. Unnfortunately there can be no surprises. But at least we got the guy so packages will be coming through again. Also, include a list in the package about what is in there. Let me give you my friend monique's address. I'm meeting her in South Africa in December and she has agreed to bring anything there from my family. Get it from my brother, my sister or my dad. They will have.

Now, I am off to write the first episode of CSI Mozambique

Ianito

The magical whitey of Homoine

So, being the only white person in a small town in the Peace Corps has some advantages. The locals really look out for you, they take care of your dog, they teach you Portuguese and Xitswa... you get the idea. But, they also come running when a family member is sick. This happened the other day when I was sitting on a mat in my yard correcting papers. My maid's son came running in asking me to come with him because his little brother was sick. My maid's family lived out in what is called the caniço or reed part of town. Its where the Mozambicans were usually forced to live by the Portuguese colonisers. Anyway, I grab some ibuprofen from my drawer and head out. When I get to the house, my maid is cradeling here son and crying cause he is burning up and REALLY sick. This is last Sunday, so the hospital was avaliable (yes they close on Sundays too) and I could tell from seeing this kid that it was Malaria. I didn't even have to touch him to feel the fever, you could just see the heat and the disease radiating off of this poor little 3 year old. Anyway, I gave some of the ibuprofen to the kid just to make him comfortable so he could sleep. That is really the best thing to do for Malaria besides get the medicines from the hospital. Anyway, my maid insisted I stay for some crab lunch that she had just cooked so she could thank me for coming to help. I stayed, barely able to stand upright in her house the size of my childhood bedroom and ate up. All of a sudden I just started shaking. Not crying or anything but just shaking. I had to stop eating because the fork kept banging against the tin plate and was making me really nervous. so I excused myself.

When I got home I just lost it. WHy? I thought I was roughing because I didn't have running water. Why? Three people live in her house and I have three rooms to myself.

I just don't get it.

Um pedido

Just a quick question for all you out there. I'm looking to outfit my house with the standard peace corps furniture - a hammock. But true to Mozambique fashion, I can't find one in this tropical country! :O) So, anyone that is in EMS or some store like that, can you price a light weight hammock for me so Monique can bring it for me in December, or if you want to use it as packing in a next package.

More soon
Ian

Viva Mocambique e Corpo da Paz

So this morning I have had a complete trip out. First it is the 4th of July... FELIZ DIA DA INDEPENDENCIA! Yes I am still in Maputo, things take longer to heal in the tropics. But I am slowly going crazy down here. It should be a day in the life. That may be what I change this blog too. Let me catch all of you up with what is going on here. Anyway, I am a Peace Corps Volunteer but am a millionare (YEAH BABY) but in the currency called meticais. There are now two currencies in the country (technically, in actuality there are four) and it goes as follows. The money that was here when I came was called METICAL or MZM and the exchange rate was 26,500 to the american dollar. Now we have NOVO METICAL or MTn and it is 26.50 to the dollar. So basically they just loped some zeros off. But I think it is all a big lie because all the banks are down, they have been since the first, and no one has seen more than a fleeting glance of these new bills. No idea how long the banks will be down until but hey the answer to all questions in this country is

ITS MOZAMBIQUE! :O)

So, going on I turn on the TV today and see the face of this kid called Robin Dejesus in this movie called CAMP. NOw I just never had the desire to see it because of many reasons, not the LEAST of me being bitter because I remember him as that little eighth grader who's first show EVER was a summer stock performance of Grease and now I am seeing him on a South African network in Mozambique. Little weird, besides the fact that I gave the kid rides home to Roodner Court area of Norwalk many times. Great singer but the acting, blame the script Ian blame the script... I made my friend Rhett watch it with me and needless to say she wasn't too impressed. Anyway, our friend Kelly comes into the room saying she say a really cool staff member of PC Mozambique and we bolt out of the room. Once we get out into the street, we see her in the car stopped at a light and we are in a really n ice area of town so she didn't have her car doors locked. It was hysterical because the three of us just pile right into her car and say we are kidnapping you. Who was driving??? But it's Mozambique. So we had some coffee and caught up. But she made us realise how cool what we are doing really is. She just came back form the States and was telling us how much respect she had gotten when she told people she works for Peace Corps. She speaks perfect English and sounds British (lived there for two years) so no one believes she is Moz.

Another friend of mine just got back to the States after finishing up her time here. She was coming back into the states with her dog and the customs official was an RPCV and let her right through. I love this place

Ianinho

Things that make you go WHAT THE!?!?!?!?!?!?!

So many of you I'm sure have been watching the football/soccer world cup on television. Or if you are in Germany in person. But anyway, a few nights ago Portugal trounced the other team in the quearter finals of the FIFA world cup. I just left the movie theatre here in Maputo and the city was in chaos. Horns were going off, lights were flashing, people were leaning out of there high rise apartment windows, there were cries of VIVA PORTUGAL punctuated by the chants of COLONIALISTA...COLONIALISTA from some drunk Mozambicans that just came out of the bar across the street. My question is, Portugal seriously messed up this country, largely within living history, yet the language ties are so strong that Mozambicans will root for them in the world cup?

HUH?!?!?!?!

Now if Portugal wins.....uh oh

We shall see if this works

Howdy ya'll,

Howzit? I've been MIA for awhile but as they say, no news is good news or it just means I am damn lazy. But anyway, things are great. I'm down in Maputo right now on some Peace Corps business. I'm planning a boys leadership conference with some other PCVs from older groups. I think I'm basically there so they can pass the torch to someone for next year's conference when none of them will be here. I heard a crack in my mouth while I've been down here so I made a dentist appointment to just to make sure everything is okay. Keep your fingers crossed.

Quick announcement, my friend Monique is coming in about 5 months for a month long visit. I'm going to be meeting her in South Africa and we are travelling around SA and MOZ together for my summer break, which includes christmas and new years!!! Anyway, she is more than happy to bring stuff from all of you for me. I don't want to put her contact info up here but just email me and I will send you her address. REmember even packets of kool aid make me happy. She lives in New York so it should be easy for ya'll to get stuff to her.

So the title of this entry is in reference to trying to put up a video I made to either this website or my kodak online gallery. I think what may be happening is that I copy a bunch of stuff to a disk and send it to noel. We will see, "but, in Africa there is always time" and I hope you guys have all been enjoying what you have been seeing. Remember, visits are always welcome and I will pick you up anywhere in South Africa or Mozambique.

Where to begin... this past trimestre at work has been interesting. I've certainly seen a broad spectrum of Mozambican life that has shocked me and endeared me to the crazy life of being caucasian in Africa. My students "por fim" are finally used to me and I have been stopped on random occaisions about how some of my students really like my English class and look forward to it during the school day. Let me give you a mental image which I think you will find funny. The standard Mozambican way of teaching is very rote learning. The teacher usually stands by the board droning oout facts, writing it on the board and the students copy it into their notebooks. I, on the other hand am jummping around the room, standing on desks, crawling o n the floor, and running through the students... all to illustrate English vocabulary, now there is passion for your work...and I'm doing this is Portuguese.

Moving on, last month PC MOZ said goodbye to a group of volunteers that came in 2004. I got really close to one who lived in my local big city. So, I decided to come down with that friend to help say goodbye. That was my last blog I think. So anyway, the Peace Corps "godfather" hooked up a car rental for some visiting friends. Well, this car was pimped out. There was a sun roof!!!! But, it died about half way down the EN1 to Maputo. We then don't know how to get to Maputo, it is getting dark and we NEED to get Maputo. So I'm running around the town of Xai Xai to get a Chapa to drive us down. To make a long story short, we rent a chapa for 2.000.000 Meticais and get the private phone line of the police chief of the province of Gaza.

But, I am loving life up in Homoine and have outfitted my house to make it look really nice. I did it all from the camping section of the department store!

More later remember send me stuff!

Love ya'll

ian

Oh Maputo

So, here in Maputo after one hell of an African style trip. I'll do that blog when I have a little more time, because, you see I have gotten some pictures put up on the internet! I've actually been able to put about 35 pics up. There are three envelopes of hard copies heading stateside right now. To Mag, Jess and Dad. I know some people who are on there way to Joburg so I gave them the pictures and thinking that from Mozambique the photos have to go through there anyway to get to America so why not cut some of the middle men out. But, I'm going to try to share the picture through kodakgallery. I hope you can all see them and enjoy them. Pictures are going to be a slow process but I promise to keep them coming. Hopefully within the next two years internet connection will improve along with everything else so it will be easier. But I'm doing everything African style now. If you get an invite from Kodakgallery and know some people who want to see pictures who have not gotten an invite from me. PLEASE SHARE!!!!

Ndzi mbongile!

African pulse with a Latin rhythm

That is what Maputo is to me. I love that city and I have a long weekend from work so I am going to go to see my friend Fran off. The first time i went back to that city after being at site for a long time I will have to say this quasi New Yoker and Londoner got overwhelmed. IN my town, seeing three cars on the road is considered heavy traffic and two cars going the opposite directions is a traffic jam. So when I am in Maputo and actually have to look both ways before crossing I sit on the curb and hope someone will come to my rescue and help me across the road! No not really but more often than not a chapa appears out of thin air and I fly accross the road. :O) But in Maputo, the smells hit you full force and it is an overload of diesel fumes, every food under the sun frying up in gallons of cooking oil on the side of the road, the hair product of the ladies walking down the road who are wearing actual designs that could be seen anywhere. Not that I don't like capulanas but Maputo is a wonderful recharge for this little big city boy. Pictures are getting sent out to my sister, my father and Mag so everyone keep a heads up and when I can get my hands on a blank CD i'll burn my digital pics and send them to my brother to post on the internet. HEy Noel. flickr isn't working for me for some reason! :O(

Ianito

so, parte dois

Let me apologise immensely for not responding to any emails. Gmail is not accessible right at that moment. I have no idea why but this is Africa, so I have given up asking for along time now! Anyway, I am going to try and burn a cd of my pictures so far and send them to my brother Noel, who will then upload my pictures I hope. Otherwise, next time I go to Maputo, which is god knows when. :O)

Anyway, life is moving on along here. Last week was a crazy week at school. I broke up two fights in one day. One was between my dog and a turkey that wandered into my yard. The other was between two students that i actually had to battle with. But I felt like a good teacher because my director complimented me for doing the right thing and bringing the students to him! Last Saturday was apparently a student teach meeting and since I am head teacher of a stream of 65 students I was suppossed to meet with the parents. I show up at school on the day of the meeting at 8 AM. Which is the time I was told to be there. Only one other teacher was there and it was an english teacher so we get talking about the course and what we have to do. After, another teacher that only teaches during the night came up. He said he was here because he was put on as a teacher during the day. I laughed because it seemed so very mozambique. Little did I know it was my stream he was put in charge of! Anyway, I ggot booted out because anzdi wulawuli Xitswa kwatsi! :O( Hopefully that will change though. Also, right now I have no electricity at my house, who knows when I will get it back. The handy man had sent some kids up a tree to trim a tree, right over my electricity wires. I knew what was going to happen and it happened JUST AS I WAS TELLING THEM TO BE CAREFUL of my wires! Oh well....

Ya know, it seems like all I do is complain but I'm really liking it here! It's just I'm so used to it I don't think you guys would like to here about how I take a now COLD bucket bath under the stars. Or walk through groves of palm trees under the bluest sky to get to work every day. Or WOuld you? And don't worry, I am writing it all down for the (mis)adventures to come.

Africa is complicated

SO, I finally get the chance to upload some photos and I have to do them one BY ONE!!!!!!!!!! ARGH. But anyway, check out www.kodakgallery.com and have a look. It should be fun and interesting. I hope....

Just a quick update

Hello from the grand capital city of the land of good people. On a map, it just goes by Inhambane City. But its a cool little place and I have been here since Sunday. I'm staying until sunday befor I go to home to Homoine. We are at a Boy's conference now. This afternoon I'm painting murals on the walls around town. It should look good when it is finally finished. Don't know exactly when that will be then. I'm here with three other people from my town. Remember the "Can I have a tee-shirt with that" post? Well, this weekend has most definitely made me believe that even more. Both of my students and teacher want tee shirts of the conference. I'm scared there will mutiny if we don't get some for them so I think they are being made as I type. People where them with pride so maybe I will too.

Second, an last paragraph here. I've become a lot more patriotic since living here. Go ahead smile and laugh. But I didn't say patriotic to what. I'm saying patriotic to freedom of thought and speech and being taught to think for yourself. Something that I have noticed this week while listening to speeches and lectures about "thinking for yourself" and "thinking critically" stuff I have heard from middle school and yet it is all new ideas for my students. I'm going to try posting pictures into my online kodak album tomorrow, so, look here for t he web address.

Tchau

A little old but funny

Hello Everyone, I found this when I was cleaning my house and since I've taken to writting out my blogs, I thought I would post this now that the internet is back. Remember, this is about 3 weeks ago. I was just coming out of malaria and the like.
anyway, here it is.

So, to keep you all up to date, Africa is slowly kicking my ass. I came down with malaria and spent a week in Maputo. I was healthy enough to come home to Homoine but seemed to have left some part of me in Maputo. That tend to be kind of important in this land of giant bugs and killer diseases... it's my immune system. Malaria ravages your insides, turns the inside out and leaves you gasping for air. But I made it through and am resolute to make it better. It is the African flu though and everyone gets it. The flu on steriods. I'm beginning to think the survival of the fittest theory is correct. We whites came from this continent but the heat, bugs and diseases got the best of us so we left! So, we are NOT all powerful and had to leave "the kitche" and we gutted it in the process. But I'm not turning into the bleeding heart, bitching about all the injustices we Europeans have done to our mother continent. They were done, now it is up to my generation to realise what need to be done to rectify it. I'm seeing people work at that every day. African exploration is over. They are seriously going to bite western civilisation on the ass if we don't help them out a bit more. Something I'm definitely learned over the past 6 months, is Africa changes you whetheryou like it or not. I'm sitting here with my improvised swamp-cooler (a wet rag draped over my fan) listening to the BBC crackling through from Bush House in London "directly" to Homoine. And I realise how foreign my life 4 miles north of that transmission house and my life in America now seem. Time in Africa is something that needs to be experienced, it cant be described. Days are longer than weeks and hours are like months yet time marches on to the steady beat of the morter and pestal, the size of a grandfather clock.

Africa also has a wicked sense of humour. My laptop and iPod were collecting dust in my house and now are collecting dust in someone else's house. So, any care packages that may come, through in a couple of CDs. Anykind of music would be great. My address is a few posts back if you guys want it. My family has it too.
So, I've cut my ties from the music (read very important) part of my life and now am ready to listen to Africa in all her sticky, sweet, spicy glory.


(Ok sue me, I think I may have been slightly feverish when I wrote this out!) Hope you enjoyed it.

Can I have a tee shirt with that?

Oh my god, I'm back from the dead. Sorry for the long absence but someone has seemed to press the fast forward button on my life here and the fact that 5 weeks have passed since my last post seems unreal. Anyway, right now I am waist deep in final exams of my 600 8th graders. True to Mozambican style, I got my class schedule changes about halfway through the trimester. Now I teach 600 8th graders 3 days a week and I teach my fellow coworks one day a week. It leaves me with free mondays, to travel, to relax, or to sit in my darkened house pretending I'm not home. Calm down, I'm joking. Anway, by some miracle, I don't get supremely bored grading papers. I just tune into Bush House in London and before I know it I've got one glass of 75 students in the corrected pile. It also helps time pass quickly. I'm going to be a guru in the art of time management by the time Africa is through with me.

Moving on to my title... it seems if you through a free tee shirt into the deal, you can get Mozambicans to do or come to anything. I mean I understand completely. Especially since I have started to recognise my students on the basis of the clothes they where - and there are no uniforms at my school. In January, my friend put together a concert for AIDS awareness and as soon as the word got out that there was going to be a free tee in the deal, we had a packed house. I'm going to be involved in a national boys conference in about 3 weeks. Again, my students found out that a tee is going to be thrown in and they signed the dotted line with gusto. Its just very interesting to see the values and what some people will do for something that Wal Mart sells in packs of three for $8. (Which is what most people make a month here)

Do you ever wonder that things lining up in your life and making perfect sense are the gods smiling down on you or the cosmos aligning in your favour? (Pick your belief) Well, the other day I was going to the store to pick up some food to bring to my site mates house to make dinner. The lady that runs the electricity board in town drove by and asked if I were going to Inhamussua, the neighborhood where my site mate lives, I said yes and jumped in with her. I noticed someone in the back of her car who I recognised to be one of my brightest students. I climbed into the truck confused but thankful I wouldn't have to take a bus. I find out the EDM lady is his mother and she wanted to talk to me about the conference I had invited her son to attend. I had met her my first week at site and never made the connection. But now I've got the connections in town and I dont think my electricity will be going out any time soon.

Ill keep you updated about the conference and promise it will be in less than 6 weeks.

You never get Africa out of you!

Boy is that ever the truth. From the rythmic "thump...thunp" of a Mozambican mortar and pestal the size of a granfather clock, to the fireworks Africa sets off every night at sunset, she gets under your skin and stays there for life. She also has a few diseases to make sure you always remember her. Many of you have probably heard, I've got Malaria. I'm down in the Capital Maputo right now to get some tests and I went through the drug treatment already.
Let me tell you though, I have never felt so sick in my life. I hope to God that I never get arthritis because the joint pain I've experienced over the past week has been hell. But let me tell you how this first came on. I had been watching the superbowl with my friends Mike, Justin, LeeAnn, Josh and Meridith. We all gathered at a television for the one AM viewing. Some of them were from Pittsburgh so it made for a good party. I was on my way home and got sick on the way. Now I thought it was just because of lack of sleep. I then went home and tried to get some sleep but realised I have a 40 degree celcius fever. That is about 104! So I called the doctor and she had me go to the local hospital to get a malria test done. Taking ones own blood is not an easy task, yet somehow I've done it.

The symptoms of Malaria are a lot like the flu. But thank God it is so easily controlable and nothing really happens if you catch it early... if you are rich, white and working for the American Government.

See you all soon

Ian

Is this for real?

So, school is suppossedly starting tomorrow but we shall see if that actually come to pass because after all this is Mozambique. We had a week of meetings last week plus yesterday, Monday. I was told last week that I would be teaching 6 classes of 10th grade English a week. It is very good because it lets me have time for my secondary projects as well. But anyway, last week's first meeting was two hours late because the director couldn't get out of bed... dont know why. The next day he wasn't even there. Monday's meeting was basically me sitting around and reading (I'm going to be EXTREMELY WELL read by the end of these two years!) and getting to know my fellow teachers. I then escaped to the wonderfulness of the Bay of Inhambane.

The local PCVs were invited to a concert organised with the help of the American Embassy and one of our fellow PCVs. It was of an American Man named Vinx who is a wonderful Jazz Singer and Drummer. He was accompanied by his friend Stewart who just happens to be the presenter of Mozambican Idol. They both are very good singers and the show was rocking. It was held in this old school building built by the Portuguese in 1922. An absolutely beautiful building. Anyway, after the show, the man representing the embassy comes to get me about some teaching materials he has for Inhambanian Teachers and that the guys want to meet the Americans and thank them for putting all this together. So we go up on Stage and talk. Pretty much the next moment we are all going out to the local bar, read trailer that sells beer, and having a blast. The guy who is presenting Mozambican Idol is named Stewart and we chatted for a good part of the night. Guys I dont know what I can say to stress how big this guy is here!!!! I was sitting next to him talking to him as if it were nothing. All of a sudden I have his cell phone number and email address in my phone and he's chatting about how the next time I come to Maputo I need to call him and we'll go out for coffee. Let's just say, I've never lived this good before!!! It was definitely not what I thought would be happening when I signed up for Peace Corps, but I'm not complaining. I think the funniest part though is my friend Kara and I were talking to Vinx, the American about how much we make per month here. $200 to be exact. Anyway, he was shocked and all of a sudden he is slipping $20 into my hand! He took care of the whole bill for the night as well! Now I've got to go email them a thank you......and sleep dreaming of the Fame that may come my way in Africa.

Who'da Thought?

Ian

Boring old update

Nothing really interesting to update ya'll about here. The temperature peaked at 100 degrees Farenheit today. It was rough. But luckily the internet cafe has the AC cranked so I can cool off a little bit. OOOO Wait, I finally saw my school. But before I get into that, let me tell you about the boat trip I had last week. See, I live right near a bay. This bay seperates two great cities, Maxixe and Inhambane. Its only 2 KM across the bay or 60 KM by boat. So as a group of four of us are walking to the boat last week some girl tells us to get into a bus to go to Maxixe. Its about 20,000 Meticais more so - and an hour longer so we decided against it. We got in the boat and the waves started ROCKING. I think okay we can do this, we can do this, but the waves get bigger! The boat is not the most seaworthy of vehicles but we are allowed to go on it because its only a two kilometre distance. There is this sandbar around which all the waves were breaking. When we went through that area, I thought I was going to have to get out and swim! But we made it, the last boat to Maxixe that day. It's amazing how much people bond over experiences like that. Oh did I mention, a couple sharks live in the bay!

Anyway, very quickly. School starts in 3 weeks. I'm going to be teaching 10th grade. That constitutes people of 17-27 depending on how long it took them to get through school. But I should have only about 50 or 60 in a classroom. Some others up north have 100 pluse students in a classroom!!!!! The best thing, I will be teaching in a reed classroom, no windows, lots of desks and a chalkboard. Thats it. I wonder if I'll ever complain about lack of supplies again?

:O)

Update from Xai-Xai in Gaza

So I am in the land of Gaza right now but it is a little bigger than a strip. I'm visiting my friends Mike and Justin from training. They are here in the provincial capital at a teacher's training college. Before I go into how things are here let me give you all my new address. Interestingly enough I am now Reverand Ian Hefele as far as the Mozambican postal service is concerned. Apparently, things get through a hell of a lot easier and quicker when they are addressed to the church folk. If you send me anything bigger than an envelope write some of the following phrases on it and it will get here very quickly.
CHRIST IS KING
LONG LIVE GOD
JESUS SAVES
GOD IS MY SAVIOUR......... you get the idea.

Here is the address
Rev. Ian Hefele, PCV
C.P. 31
Maxixe, Mozambique

So, where do I begin. I've been beach hopping down the coast for the past 10 days because there is really nothing else to be done - the country is on one major holiday. But I'm enjoying it immensely and when I finally get my act together, I'll post some pictures. :O) When I left Tofo beach to come down for christmas, I knew it was going to be an interesting ride. I love it because buses work here on a whole different level of absurdity than anywhere I've ever been. First of all, they are called matchibombos - which suggests the English word rambling. Boy do they ever do that. Xai Xai is about 250 kilometres from my home and that took me 5 hours. Which really isn't bad on Mozambican time!!!! We went down to the beach here, where my cousin has actually been. (That a strange concept, knowing family members have been to comepletely random spots in the world where you are now standing)

Now, I've got to love you all and leave you. Justin is waiting for his turn on the internet. For lunch today we are going to gorge ourselves on steak and Xima (mozambican mealie meal) for the grand total of 40,000 meticais...or $1.75!

Ianito

Oh yeah I went swimming on Christmas day too!

Feliz Natal

I just wanted to write all of you very quickly and wish you a merry christmas and happy new year. I've found REALLY fast internet at the italian mission in Maxixe. I'm down here today to open a Post Office box get some things for my house and just chill by the water. I've got some PCVs from Namibia coming tomorrow. The three of them are doing a Cape Town to Cairo trek by land and I agreed to put them up for a couple of days. I got a call from them from Maputo (god that place seems like miles away) and they are excited to see the beach! So am I! But, I plan on going to Xai-Xai to visit my friends Justin and Mike for Natal. (Xmas) We are proabbly going to surprise, surprise go to the beach. The Bob Dylan song was not lying! :O)

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Love ya

IAn

PS. Gaterade in powder and any sort of spices are wonderful stocking stuffers for xmas in July!

Moving day

So the day after tomorrow I move. I pack everything up and head Northward about 6 hours to move into the Terra da boa Gente or Land of Good People. We had our swearing in last night. Very good time and a very good party. Now I'm headed back to Boane to spend some time thinking and packing and saying goodbye to some people. But on Tuesday, your's truly will be living in Homoine, Inhambane Provine.

Wish me luck

Ian

Ndzi voluntari xa corpo da paz!

Gi Xile!
Ndzi Ian, ndzi voluntari xo corpo da paz. Ndza tira xicolweni 25 de Setembro xa Homione, Inhambane. Ndzi mugondzise xa xiguisa!

G'day everbody! Howzit? That is a little taste of the local dialect I have started learning. It is called Xitswa. The x is pronounce "sh" like in Xela, Guatemala, Julie's place. Anyway, drumroll please..... I am going to the beach in Inhambane Province about 6-7 hours away from Maputo the capital. I amm really excited because
1. I'm living alone.
2. I'm going to the TERRA DA BOA GENTE!
3. Here comes fluent portuguese and Chitswa
4. I'm going to get to mess with all the tourists who come to the beach, especially the afrikaners!

It was a little shock to the system that I would be living alone first, but honestly I think that is what I wanted. I was talking yesterday to a really good friend here, Justin, and what he said made me realise that YES it was what I wanted and YES I am going to rock up there! Besides, my closest neighbour is only a 20 minute chapa ride away and the first person I met in the group is only 40 minutes away in Maxixe. And she has a hot shower!!!!!!! :O) Its a nice little perk occaisionally but I'm diggin the bucket showers. I'm in the middle of a field of coconut trees. I will be learning to climb those trees and get the cocos. I've cell phone coverage, electricity and a pump really close to my house. I'm teaching in a reed hut, which the entire school is made out of and unless more funding comes through, will probably NOT have any desks for the first year though. Once I get there Ill be setting up a post office box, but until then keep the packages coming to the Peace Corps office here in Maputo!

Back to the whole language thing. I'm very excited to be able to have the opportunity to use 3 languages every single day and to be able to add a 4th language to that when I go the beach (Afrikaans.) I can just see the white tourists faces when I'm speaking dialect to some Mozambicans and then turn around and speak to them in there language....OOOOO thats gonna be FUN.

So, here is the low down. I had to get my toenail removed again. Its a regular occurance throughout PCVs here in Mozambique. Make a long story short, they lanced it, stitched it up and now I have to walk around in sandals for the rest of the time INCLUDING SWEARING IN CEREMONY! But I think the Ambassdor will understand. Speaking of her, we had a Thanksgiving dinner that she came to at school. She stayed for 2 and a half hours! She is one of the nicest diplomats I've ever met, she even danced with us! But now, things are winding down in training. We have a big party with our host families next week. That's tuesday. Then we go and meet our school directors, they are coming to Maputo. Apparently, according to the PCV I am replacing he is known as macaco velho or OLD MONKEY. Ill fill you in on that! :O) Next Friday is our swearing in ceremony and we spend that night at this beach resort on Costa do Sol! Saturday is our recoverday and Sunday or Monday I move to the land of good people - as Inhambane province is known!

com respeito e amor

Ianito

Feliz dia da gracas

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!!!!! Sorry I didn't get to post this week, but I will soon. I think about you all and according to my friends here has pictures of all of you too! :O) I will have the info the next time I'm on the web as to where I will be for the next two years! ONE WEEK AND COUNTING!

Give me a call sometime

Ianito

Massinga!\

Okay everybody, keep your fingers crossed. We have 3 weeks left of model school. This is some crazy Peace Corps practice where I get up in front of a "smallish" class of 45. I think after these two years when i get back to the States and really do start teaching (you all can laugh now as I know what you are thinking) I'm not going to know what to do. Ill have a class of 30 and wait five minutes asking where the other half of the class is! :O) But after model school, we will have a big Thanksgiving dinner celebration and figure out where we are going for the next two years. They sent us last week all over the southern Provinces of this country and I went to Inhambane Province to a town called Massinga. IT IS PARADISE. The volunteer lives in a reed hut on school grounds and it is just everything I have thought about Peace Corps and more. Portuguese is only spoken at school and through strangers at the market but this volunteer speaks Matswa pretty fluently. I cant wait to be able to start on the local language as well. Inhambane is the beach province of MOZ. It is beautiful as you guys will see very soon. I've got to get some pictures developed. But they will be up as soon as I can get them up!

Speaking of photos. Everyone go to Noel's website to see pictures of my beautiful little nephew. He is gorgeous and everyone, keep him in your prayers please! Everyone have a happy turkey day and a merry Christmas if I don't talk to you. I'm cooking a candied yam casserole for all of us and I hope it goes over well.

Con todo amor
Ian

ps. letters et al take at least two weeks to get here. Anything and everything from home is wonderfully appreciated!

Oh the humanity

So here we go again guys, sorry about the typos in the last blog post. I realised that I had only 2 minutes left, so I started typing faster, than it just kept ticking and ticking away, so I just clicked send with out re-reading it. So anyway, let me apologise for the mass email. I've taken everyone off who wishes to be and will not send another one like that. I think I will stick to blogs. Gmail is a weird thing though. Every email that enters my mail box gets automatically entered into my address book. It could lead to trouble though too. :O) Won't do it again...

Now to the crazy news. I'm sitting here in Maputo (I love this city) at an internet cafe staying at Hotel Africa. I've just taken my first hot water shower in a month and nearly cried. I never thought it would make me so happy. Don't get me wrong, I love the bucket showers under the stars every night but sometimes, one is lazy. We have AC running today. Its 38 degrees outside and VERY humid. But, I'm loving life here. My Portuguese is coming along rapidly. I can already hold conversations with no difficulties. I did get highly confused witht he Spanish language but I've seen the pattern within the differences in the languages (Thank you German) and have even started picking up some Changana. the local african language.

Last week was the highlight of my time here so far I think. My Portuguese instructor is a regular Mister Rogers here on Mozambique. he has a regular Sunday morning LIVE show every week. Last week my friend Rhett and I were featured guests. A bunch of us from training took the Chapa(that is a whole 'nother topic) into the capital and then got picked up by the "studio" car for the ride to the TV studio. We come in and our introduced. eight of us dance the macarena and have a blast. There was a monitor on the wall behind us and I looked up once to see the camerazoomed in on my and Rhett's naldegas and show us shake it like they do. My teacher says we did him proud because I swear here in Moz, they learn how to shake their prosterior before they walk and long before they learn how to speak Portuguese! So then we are brought back stage to the "tan" room. We are handed cameras and told to act like tourists. So my friend Rhett and I are running around the studio acting like complete idiots (surprise surprise). Then the music stops and we're brought to the centre of the stage. Didinho then tells the audience that we like to learn how to dance like the Mozambicans. Music starts and we start dancing. We are up there with them clapping and hooting and hollaring for 5 or 6 minutes. When we got back to our seats, my friends asked us if we knew whether or not we would have to dance. We didn't. they were amazed, because they said it looked like it was coreographed!
On the way back to teh Chapa terminal, a man stops Rhett and me on the street. He congratulates us on our "bonito" debut on Mozambican TV!!!! It was crazy! The white community is not that big here so I wasn't surprised, but Rhett and I are seriously rockstars now. We cannot leave our houses without getting at least one kid running up to us for a hug. Its really cute and all of you definitely know that I'm lapping up every minute of it.

I'm excited for tomorrow because I am going to Massinga with my friend Justin. Its in Inhambane Province, about 9 hours from here. I get my own seat on the bus and everything! Those of you who have been to Latin America know what I am talking about. Inhambane Province has the best surfing and diving on the African Indian Coast so I will scope things out for those of you that would like to come and visit. Remember though my school year in January to October, so come and visit mid November-December to escape the snow!

Some side notes, everyone please keep my friends in Guatemala in your thoughts. They were destroyed by the latest hurricane to hit the coast and need all the help they can get. Keep on sending the emails and letters. I have gotten stuff from Monique, Mag and Margaret Cavanagh. It seems to take 2 weeks. Here are some thoughts for care packages if anyone wants to.
Film
Duct Tape
Gallon Freezer Bags~
Hand Sanitiser

Please please please send me text messages! It only costs a quarter. My wonderful siblings have my cell phone number and notes from home brighten my day. Thanks Kris!
I am saving all your emails and once I get to site, I will be replying.

Com tudo minha coração

Mano Ian

Muitas Coisas

Bom Dia do Maputo@!

First of all thank you all so much for your wonderful thoughts, emails and prayers. Unfortunately I won't be able to answer all the emails for some time to come. Email is slow! As the general pace of life is down here. Yet some how it manages to be manic as well. In case some of you have not heard yet. Felix Paul Alexis was born Oct 3rd and he is a LIBRA! He was very early but is doing okay. Everyone just keep him in your prayers. I'll teach him Changanna when I come back. So some amazing stories.

Let's see, the alarm clock I bought is totally useless because of the roosters that wake me up in the morning. I had to kill one the other day for my birthday feast. We made an offering to our ancestors, of which Mom was included. I wasn't allowed to spill any blood so I had to club the thing with a stick. It was suprisingly easy. I also hit it in the direction of the sun so it will bring me good luck and my ancestors "approve" of what I am doing.
I have made a reputation for myself as someone not to be messed with. The hawlkers are unbelievable and will try to sell you anything. so the other day I took a tampom out of my friends purse and tried to sell it to them!!!!

Com amor

Ianito

so...

So I get bitched at for not updating my blog and then I update it frequently with almost the EXACT same post. Oops. Anyway ya'll check out this website. go to useful prices

www.mozguide.com it should be very funny. I'm so excited, I can buy a live chicken for Mt.50,000 (Meticais) thats $2.10

HA!

interesting and annoying stuff

Hey You Guys!

Ya know, I've never actually seen that movie, yet that term rings in my head. I guess the movie achieved its purpose - almost twenty years later, someone who's never seen the movie still "quotes" it.

Moving on, I think Fate may be against me or something. I think I told you guys about my glasses getting lost in the ocean. Well, this week my USB port was acting up. It starting popping up with warnings that there are "power surges" on the port. I freak out only when my iPod doesn't get recognised. Then all of a sudden I try to print something and I notice a pin is bent inside. In a panic I run off to Best Buy and Circuit City looking for some sort of saving piece of technology. I find it in a PCMIA card $55! I have this strange feeling that I am repeating myself but I will only see once I publish this blog... oh well gotta go pack and enjoy the last day on the beach!

RIP Ami Jusitice

oh the humanity!!!!

So, get this, it is less than three weeks until I 'ship off' to Africa and my USB port on my laptop breaks!!!!! Now, in perfect form of my stupidity, my computer is old (2002 model) so I have only one USB port. The list is endless what runs out of there though. Digital Camera, iPod, USB stick... It would not be adventageous for me not to have a USB whilst in Mozambique. So in a frenzy I call my brother. He seems to be my computer whiz, good to have one that doesn't charge you an arm and a leg! He was asking me about the ports on the back of my computer and I had a PS2 port that you plug a mouse into, parrallel port etc. He says I could buy a little convertor to change that to USB. So I go to look for one and get laughed at. Then its off to Circuit City, no luck, but I know what I need now at least, back to Best Buy and I find a PCMIA Card with two USB ports in it. $55 later, my computer is fixed.

Speaking of brothers, when he and his VERY nice girlfriend came up to New Hampshire to visit ten days ago, we went kayaking. Believe it or not, it was the first time I have kayaked all summer. Its also the last because I'm leaving for Rhode Island on Thursday! Anyway, my dumbass went out kayaking with my glasses on. Everything is working perfectly until I start coming back in. Suddenly this big wave comes along, the ONLY big friggin' wave of the day, and I'm down. Noel is in the tandem kayak with Samantha and they laugh. I admit it was very funny but I lost my glasses. I have to go to Peace Corps with two pairs of glasses! ARGH Does fate not want me to leave this country?

A good friend of mine in Germany once told me that I shouldn't leave the States to relocate to Europe. Her reasoning was that this country needs people to show the general populace that a world exists outside of our borders. I mean only 45% of this country has a passport!!! In Europe a passport is an accepted fact of life! :O) Also, it helped to get out of said country if a war were to break out, which tended to happen often. So maybe I should stay?

NAAHHHH!!!!

There is one good piece of news within all the doom and gloom of the last week. Chief Justice, William Renquist's likely successor will be more moderate than himself. But I just warn you oh faithful readers, keep your passport updated. NOEL!

Just think of the time gone by

And I get friggin scared. Well, really not scared just excited and well yeah, SCARED. Its a scary thought to think that I will be calling Mozambique home for two years. True to my form I will get to feel more comfortable there and then not want to come back. I've got to stop doing this to myself. But I love it. Anyway, I know I am going to come back and think "Oh wow a bottle of Coke only costs 1 Metical! That is cheaper than 5,000 Meticais. But then it will dawn on me that 5,000 Meticais is 20 American cents.

I think the things that are bothering me the most is this summer did not work out as planned. I had hoped that my father would come up to visit. No go. I saw my brother and sister and one of my oldest and best friends but didn't see Mag nearly as much as I wanted to. I will spend some time with her before I go. Let me tell you guys, staying at her place is better than the Ritz. I woke up one morning to fresh cookies and the morning paper at my door. The night before I had gone in and my bed was turned down. I thought it was really cute!

The list of things I will have to get while i n CT just keeps growing and growing and growing. I think a lot of it has to do with the anxiety of not knowing where I will be living. I can't picture where it is I'll be staying and therefore don't really have an idea of how I have to pack. People let's get a fact straight here. I'm only allowed to bring 80 pounds with me. I've got to put my life into 80 POUNDS! That roughly 45 kilos for all you non-english mesures people. Like I dont know if I'll have to get a rain cover for my back pack, bring large freezer bags (good to store things in in the rainy season) my books, film, camera batteries, my god, the list just goes ON!!!! I will have help with my friend Annemarie though. She's going to bring me around to set up for the party and to pack up my life before I leave. I'm off to the clothing drop tomorrow to get rid of some clothes that Noel decided not to take!

Ianito signing off

Ticking time

Wow time is moving by very fast. I can't believe that its been that long since I've made any sort of comment on my blog. Sorry about that but I don't want to be the dorky boy who always writes on his blog, I did this and I did that. Guess what I've been sick for the past week, so I haven't done much. Anyway, 3 weeks from today I am leaving New Hampshire and 6 weeks from today I am leaving the States for Mozambique. Mozambique!!! This country is so foreign to everything I know except for the fact they speak Portuguese there. I have to be speaking this language very soon, anyone out there speak it who is reading this blog? I guess it hasn't sunk in yet. But I've got other things to talk about.

My sister is having a baby boy in January. I'm not going to be seeing him for two years though. She is thinking of Elijah as a name possibly. But the best news is that the blood clot that she told us the doctor's discovered in the baby's brain is only in the emniotic fluid and therefore will pass!

Tick tick tick time is going by and pretty soon I'll be coming back to start my life anew.

A perspective

So I think I am going to talk about perspectives today - it seems fitting, especially after what I have experiences today. First of all, check out www.bbc.co.uk for the biggest news of the day - at least from my perspective. The IRA, Irish Republican Army, terrorists to some national heroes to others, have decided to officially end the armed struggle that they have fought for the past 36 years in Northern Ireland against the British occupation of the Emerald Isle. Many Protestants in Northern Ireland are very skeptical of what this statement means. However, in my humble perspective, this time will be different. Before, the IRA always used one of their own to
"proclaim" the ceasefire. This time they used a former IRA prisoner to tell the world about their new deal. I am a little optimistic, however, I must remember that it is the IRA. Even in a perfect world, they couldn't become a non-violent group over night. They probably don't even know how many people are in their own organisation. But I really WANT to be optimistic! I WANT to believe in the goodness of the people and the exasperation of the Republican (NOT conservative) Irish after the Northern Bank heist of £26 million in December 2004. Enough is enough! Unfortunately, I think the Rev. Iain Paisley (about as reverend as Al Sharpton) will say "show us thedisarmermentt in pictures or video" - to which theIRAA will say "NO BLOODY WAY" ------ and so the circle may continue.

The other thing I heard today was from my manager at work. He was telling me about how last summer, he was discussing the fairy and gnome myths of Celtic Britain with a friend who showed up at the shop. Well, apparently, there was a gay guy living in the flat behind the shop who overheard this story. He took it asharassmentt from the manager and his friend. He called the cops. The cop came and talked to my manager. He says, "Isn't it a bit weird for two grown men to be discussing fairies et al." My manager sayspointe blank, NO! Heretortss with,

Isn't it a bit weird for millions of adults to congregate weekly to celebrate how much they love a zombie? All they are,aree blood-thiry,cannibalisticc, zombie worshipers! To which the policeman left.

Any thoughts?

GOD BLESS YOU

Okay, I've not started to prothlesize the faith, even though Mag has been sending me heaps of info about a friend of hers who is a Catholic missionary in Uganda. I don't think this would make my friend Liz in England very happy because she was a little ticked off when I told her that I was applying to Peace Corps. See she was born in Tonga and Peace Corps is there. She just doesn't agree with what they have to say because she has had many bad experiences whilst living in Tonga with those "Yanks" that knew better than the Tongans even though they didn't speak the language, let alone not know the culture. But hey, I'm going to learn Portuguese and either Koti, Shona, Zulu, Swahili et al. Who knows which language?

Anyway, tonight was a required apperance down the beach at the Surf club. Everyone who reads this knows exactly what I am talking about. Rich, scary pretentious white people who ask me EVERY week, whether, A. we've met before B. if I'm my cousin Mike C. How I'm related to Ed and Rene yada yada YADA. But strangely enough, tonight was fun. The manager of the club had his band in for a bit of live music. They were REALLY good. The lead singer was a perfect mimic and could sing you name it almost perfectly. Anywho, my uncle, being who he is, decided to start talking to the drummer. He shows me off whenever he can, so he started talking about how he wants to visit me in Mozambique. So we start talking and the drummer just turns around to me and says GOD BLESS YOU! WHY i wanted to shout at him! What the fuck am I doing that is so GD noble? I just dont get it. But if they want to feel that I am some noble Americanesque Christ Figure, sacrificing my livelihood for two years to help the heathen of Africa, they are fucking wrong. I just want to travel. Bom viaje!

Bua noite mis amigos

Isso e Portuguese nao e espanhol

Its been/will be a long time

I haven't been updating my blog on a regular basis because so much has been happening in my life. I'm trying to put together a party for myself as a graduation/going-away thing at St. Jerome's Church in Norwalk. I fell like I have to go around on tip-toe concerning my father and his wife and frankly I'm really sick of it. But, so many people think I have to do that to maintain calm. I really want this party, because I feel that it is going to be such a long time before I will see any of these people again. I've asked certain old friends of my mother to investigate what a day at the church would entail. I just feel that if I didn't step of this, it would never materialize. Anyone in agreement with me?

I've also got to start paying off my student loans now. I've actually got to go and do that right now. Its $147.50 per month for the next ten years. Thats a shit load of money. In Australia and England you don't have to pay back any money until you are earning over certain amounts of money. Why can't we do something like that here?

My sister and I have been talking about my father and his emotional retardation alot recently. Its just something that I cannot comprehend. His wife is a type of being that I cannot fathom the amount of hatred within this woman. But I have had enough of perpetuating the negativity. There is so many other things in life to deal with and I have to focus on that. My aunt told me after I mentioned that I ican't believe for every evil person in the world there are ten beautiful/caring individuals in my life. And fuck it I am off to Mozambique in 2 months! But that is the problem. I do not want to go off to Africa with this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that my father is falling down the drain...into the vaginal vortex.

Speaking of Mozambique, I, like a dork, have been doing my research and learning bits of Portuguese. Its going to be a fun language. But the Mozambican money is called a METICAL. It is the most worthless money in the world. The current exchange rate is US$1 = MT24,500 and counting. I say and counting because I checked the exchange rate twice today. It was 24,250 the first time and then a round 24,500 the second time round. They have bills in common circulation up to MT500,000 which is only US$20. I wonder how much that will buy. I read an article on www.mozambiquenews.com that public transport in Maputo, the capital city, was raised MT 5,000 to MT7,000 - from 20 american cents to 28 american cents.

Hmmmmm....

PS

Its one of my best friends birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH!!! 22!

So it finally happened

The past two days have been full of news about London. That expensive, sunless, wonderful city I consider home has been torn apart today. 4 bombs exploded across the very center of the city at the morning rush hour. Having lived in London for the past 3 years on and off, I feel like I can understand the panic in the city. I know in my heart though that the British will keep their stiff upper lip to the nth degree. I think the reason I am so knocked around by this attack is because one of the bombs exploded right across the road from my friend's flat. The bus that exploded was right near a park that I frequented. What puzzles me is that the British people don't take the shit that their government shovels in their faces on a daily basis. They tend to excercise the ability that differentiates us humans from the apes...they QUESTION!!! Everyone QUESTIONS! There have been WEEKLY protests against the war and people are just generally more interested what goes on in other countries. My entire last year in London was spent under the threat of a possible attack from Al-Qaeda. Why does stuff happen like this?

I spent most of the morning on the phone with London to make sure friends of mine stayed away from Central London and were safe. It worked out too that a friend of mine who I ended badly on when I left in April and I talked. He was happy that I called him and it made me feel better. His girlfriend (also a friend of mine) couldn't reach him in London and I was able to reach her. I just calmed her incredibly. It was nice to be able to help a bit. Right now I am trying to take my mind of what is happening in London. Everyone please keep the city in your thoughts, it will need it.

Wow, its been quite eventful.

I really don't know what happened the 12th. I think a bunch of people were here and I get very confused when people show up because I'm used to being home alone. I don't know exactly what to do with myself. I can't believe though what has happened in the past almost month. First of all, everyone who reads this already knows that I will be an uncle. That took up alot of space in my brain for the past month. You see unfortunately, I'm going to miss the birth because (now here's for the other big news) I'm going to Mozambique in September of this year. But I was told under no circumstances what so ever am I to postpone my posting with Peace Corps. According to Peace Corps, I will be teaching English at a secondary school or a technical institute in a bigger provincial city in Mozambique - Maputo, Beira or Nampula. 1 Million, 500,000 and 300,000 people respectively, so I guess I don't have to worry about being on the end of the world. :) For those of you out there asking where Moz. is, look at a map of Africa and it is at the bottom of the continent, next to South Africa. Portuguese is the official language and 16 other tribal languages are spoken throughout. I have the chance of speaking shona, swahili, or koti, in the region where they believe I will be placed.

Yesterday I spent the entire day on the porch filling in the reems of paperwork for Peace Corps. I had to fill out paperwork for visas and a new passport. Then today I had to sign papers for life insurance and personal property insurance and set up a bank account with my father's name on it as well only to realize that I have no money to do this! :) Ahh to be back in college. If any of ya'll have more question send me an email at ian.hefele@gmail.com and I'll fill ya in.

I

Laughing "alone" and drunk

So, my cousin Lauren and four other people came up to visit today at the beach. It has been an interesting evening. The booze has flowed. I'm drunk and just wanted to say that we are all "Watching" Eddie Izzard. I'm the only one actually watching the telly, EVERYONE ELSE IS ASLEEP!!!!

Schlaft Gut
Slaap goed
duermen bien
sleep well

Rebuttle

Okay, my last post may have been a little too much of a teenie bopper moment but I think I deserve a chance for a rebuttle. I'm not sorry that I still like Liza Minnelli. She was/is a talented performer. And, she has recorded things within the past 49 years. Considering that she is only 59ish, that leaves pretty much her entire career to choose from. Sorry but I don't think I have to justify my taste in music. According to me, there are a lot of artists out there who you may like and are without a doubt less of a needy personality than Liza is, but I may think they haven't recorded anything worth listening to in the past 49 years. Many of them haven't. How ever I would NEVER say that you couldn't or shouldn't listen to some artist or another. I will admit that Liza is a looney toon but, those are typical traits of someone who has grown up so far removed from reality her life should be classified under fiction in the library. I'm just so sick of people trying to force their tastes/beliefs on others!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOD!!!!

I just found out that Liza Minnelli is performing at Hyannis Cape Cos in about 6 weeks and the tickets are only $65! Thats cheap for Liza! Should I go? Maybe this time I can meet her without her arschloch of a husband pushing me away I know, I'm a dork, go ahead and laugh!

A quick update

Anyone out there reading this? I just wanted to let you all know that I have an audition at a theatre in Portsmouth this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed for me because it would be a good diversion like acting always is. Anyone that I don't know who is reading this, let me know!

Ianito

HOOORAY!!!!!!!!

I just saw a TV commericial that a movie is being made of Fantastic Four, actually it has already been made! I Can't wait and OMG tomorrow is going to be JUNE where did this year go?

The Spirit of the Great Heart

Today has been quite the day. I woke up to drizzly weather, what else is new. I was truly shocked that I didn't get a call from my boss about not having to go to work because it was wet and gross. I show up to the site and no one is there. I just think maybe I missed them, however, he shows up and cancels. I go home to having a sleep where I wake up hurting I've slept so hard. Then I get up and have lunch, and fall back to sleep. I also tripped randomly 3 times today, just a scary lost my balance type thing. My sister says first of all that she's worried I may have a brain tumour. I'll keep you guys updated.

Anyway, I listened to Johnny Clegg and Savuka on my iPod while I was walking the dogs and realized some things. One of the songs is called, Searching for the Spirit of the Great Heart and I think that is what I am looking for. My friend's mother and I were talking about Native Americans beliefs in God. The call it the Higher Spirit and don't see it as in the Spirit is not in the form of human beings. What I am getting at is that I fear that I need to go to Africa. I feel like something is waiting for me. I just hope I go to South Africa or Namibia. Now I need to go to bed so I don't have some weird shock tomorrow .

THats it


Okay this is a weird blog but when am I not weird?

Flags, Flags, FLAGS!!!

I've the choice between two television programs to watch right now. Either the movie HULK or a Discovery Channel documentary on the Hajj, the Muslim pilgremage that everyone in Islam is technically supposed to make. I can happily say I am watching the Hajj pilgrimage!!! One of the "featured muslims" is a guy from Middelborough England. Thats the North of England, pretty close to the Scottish border - so to the average ear, his dialect is incomprehensable. Subtitles abound...weird, because he is speaking perfect English. I wonder if the Welsh get subtitles from the Texan or Lousianan accent?

Anyway according to the title, I think if I see another flag I will go crazy. I think I counted 25 flags on the short 15 minute ride home from work. I remember when I graduated from Kindergarten, we all had to read facts about the stars and stripes. My fact was, The Flag should NOT be flown outside in BAD weather. I don't know if any of you have noticed, but all we have been having in the north east is bad weather, yet the battallian of red white and blue was flapping away all along the coast. I even saw some stone lions that gaurd the driveway of some very rich owners. They were out in their finest red white and blues. I wonder if their owners realized they both looked like they were wearing the Hijab, the scarf/flag was positioned just so... with a smirk I drove away slightly happier. I'm glad I can make myself happy over things like that.

Hello my name is Ian and I am an NPR addict. I don't know what it is but I just find their voices so calming and they have good stories on it...except for today. All they played was My country tis of thee and the star spangled banner. I think if I hear another note from either of those songs I WILL SCREAM. Why are we allowed to be patriotic and the Germans are not? I completely disagree with the fact that it has come to this point in this country that if you are not a conservative christian with a text book set of morals you are un patriotic. That is not true! I LOVE THIS COUNTRY. Yes I said it, I do love this country. The sweet chewing gum sound of our accents and sometimes utter innocence is something I love. I love the fact that as a whole we have been able to live inside a country without major disturbances amonst ourselves for almost 150 years. However, the mullahs ensconced in Washington are not of the same opinion. But aren't they just as conservative?

Graduation, Abschluss, Graduacion

So here is my blog entry for graduation like I promised. I've just gotten overwhelmingly tired now, don't really understand why. However, I've promised a blog entry concerning graduation so that I will provide "ya'll" with. Well maybe I shouldn't because I just said ya'll and should be in bed. My Gott why am I so tired? I feel like I got hit in the face with something... oh wait, that was the paint can! Joking alright so here's graduation (I wanted to add Dutch and Afrikaans to the header but the online dictionary I found had no entry under the English word graduation. Interesting)

On the day I was supposed to get Paint Training 101 in Manchester, NH, not England, I went to MA with Rene. I took the bus down to Waterbury in CT so I could meet up with my friend Annemarie on my way to graduation. I had to get a copy of my thesis - I thought that would be a good idea since I was supposed to present the damn thing in less than a week's time. So I pondered the reason why all bus stations in this icountry are fucking dives and tucked in to a wonderful meal of arroz, carne, frijoles, y platanos fritos at AM's house. But I'm not going to bore you all with details of the entire week. Basically I traveled through NH, MA, CT to Brookly and then met my fearless partner in crime Tohannash at Penn Station and traveled to the big city of Southampton Long Island. Man it was fun! Tohs and I ended up talking with her mother about the stupidity and unfairness of the white man to the Native American until about 3 in the morning. The town of Southampton wants to screw the Shinnecock Natives over right now so if anyone cares to look them up on google and support them in their fight for sovereignty, it would be much appreciated.

Saturday was the ceremony for Friends World. It started out as an unusual but lovely day nonetheless. I saw people who I had not seen in years and loved it. My friend Wren was there and I finally realised how much I missed alot of these people. My class (those that started with me and ended up graduating last weekend, 4 years on) was 10 people. A whole third of the class! There were two people there who I didn't want to see AT ALL. Fernando Vega and Aimee Webb. I don't care if they come across this blog because after what they did that weekend the little respect I had for them diminished even further. Both of them were supposed to present in front of me. I didn't want to, but I decided not to change my time of presentation because I was told I was put there to close of the LAST graduation ceremonies of Southampton College with a bang. I think I did. But I had seen Meg, a person from the England Center, so I went to say hi. I turned to go say hi to those two, Fernando and Aimee, and they were walking away. Later that day Fernando plucked up the courage to talk to me and I made sure to sound as confident as possible to him with my goals and plans in life so his WHAT IS ART? presentation would come across as the shit it was. :O( I just got really pissed because those fuckers forced their own issues onto my head when it was them who had the problems in the first place.

We then moved to the gym and heard a couple people talking to us. I like Tami Farber who graduated in 1999 (proudly on the ten year plan) and she was a member of the class that Marla Ruczika was in. For those of you who don't know she is the founder of the NGO CIVIC who died in Iraq on April 16. In my opinion the choice of having Tami as our "commencement speaker" was a brilliant idea. She graduates/survived Friends World (not many of us do that!) and now works at the UN for Humanitarian goals. She was in Malawi and has been through the program so could really tell us what to expect. We may not have had a traditional academic program, but we now have one hell of a resume and now who we are. This kind of goes along with my last blog. Is life just a journey of knowing who we are?

Sunday showed me that we are the outsiders. Friend's World has not been resident on Southampton College for 3 years now - at least the student body of it. So most people who were graduating on Sunday really had no idea who we were. :) But we had our cute sashes, world is your classroom cliche sprayed across and made the most noise throughout the ceremony. Steve Kroft was the Southies' commencement speaker and he was excellent too. I'm a little partial to Friend's World though. I just wanted to express my thanks somehow to the college and how much it has helped me. HOpefully it won't go under... phew I made it out.

Sleepy time

Two days and counting...maybe

So I've finally started work. Its been a long process of waiting as many of you may know. I've been up here about a month now and unfortunately worked only about 20 hours. Oh well, its been an experience. My uncle has been generous and let me use his car for the next two weeks. I'm going to be super spoiled by the end of the those two weeks and by the time I have to give the car back, I'm not going to want to ride my bike any more. I don't think that will happen though. God I hope not. So anyway, we are painting the trim, running boards, casements et al of a house about the size of 3 double decker buses parked end to end in the next town down the seacoast - Northampton. I love this part of the country, cause you can go from my neck of the woods (nice, obviously well off, but the houses aren't obnoxiously large) to the seedy revelry of Hampton Beach (down there it is like Blackpool meets Coney Island meets Its a Small World Ride) to the mansions in the fields of heather slightly inland. All of this takes place on a 13 mile stretch of coast! Pretty impressive I think.

Anthony, he's my boss, brought his Sharpei today and she is a doll. She entertained the kids of the house, played with the cutest 5 month old Golden, kicked its butt!, and got really scared when the thunder came rolling in. I hope she becomes our mascot. It will be fun to have her around. I began to think something was wrong though when seagulls came over the tops of the trees. When they are that far inland, something must be wrong.

I wanted to include something about last night in this blog entry because what happened was really surreal/scary. I say scary because I don't really know where it came from and I say surreal because I never thought I would be having that kind of time with my extended family. Overall I had a blast but the night just came out of nowhere and I really think those are the best nights, the ones that are only planned about 10 minutes before they actually start. :O)
Anyway, we tried our grill and for some reason could not get it started. So off to the Beach Club err...Surf Club down the beach to make dinner and as it turns out have fun. We had a really good dinner, ate 4 pounds of meat and stayed until closing. Why do I have a habit of doing that? But the reason we stayed so long is Lauren, Pete, Ed and I had such good conversations. I mean it all kept moving and I honestly felt that we all actually had an interest in what was being said. That doesn't happen very often. At the Surf Club though, they have two taps at the bar - Munich Spaten, and Red Hook Brew. Unfortunately, they didn't have any Spaten (wonderful Oktoberfest Beer) so I drank the Red Hook. No one is behind the bar, so members are allowed to pull their own pints. That could be very dangerous.... :) But yours truly is an angel. :)

Another thing I want to talk about is a book I'm reading. it's Martha B. Hopkins' Second Chances and it is billed as a Travel Narrative of Southern Africa. I am reading it as prep reading for Peace Corps. Unfortunately, it does not have much to do with Southern Africa. She spent 5 months in SA and 1 month in Namibia suppossedly. I do understand that she needs to express her thoughts and see them firsthand on paper. Hell, that is just what I did for my senior presentation for Friend's World. However, I think she could have done a better job with it because she is a bit condecending with the younger people in her story. Many times her facts or spelling is just wrong. Swaziland does not border Tanzania, but Mozambique, it is not Transkai but Transkei. Am I just being too padantic or is it a worthy feeling? Do we all try and justify our existance and force it upon other people to get acceptance or have them help us make sense of it all?


Thats it.


Oh wait it isn't, I went for a walk with the dogs and the cook from the Surf Club asked whether or not my family was coming back tonight, I guess we are popular!

The hatches are battened...

My god I wish I could record what is happening outside right now and share it with you all. I 've come back to New Hampshire and of course the weather is PURE CRAP! I spent 20 minutes outside on the deck yesterday trying to tie down the deck furniture so it would not fly away into the white wall of water that is the Atlantic Ocean. I wasn't even out there 20 minutes I think and I got soaked through and through. Many of you may know that my job this summer is painting houses, yeah right that is going to happen. I don't think one siding of a house will get painted this summer. What got me yesterday was that I was talking to a friend of mine from London who is living in Idaho now and got royally pissed off. She was there in Middleton Idaho with 70 degree weather and walking around in a tee shirt and shorts. I was out there in blinding rain, its coming down in sheets and the tempurature wind chill gets down to 35 degrees. MENSCH its FUCKING MAY!!!!!! I'm going to put in a graduation blog tomorrow. I still have to fathom how it affected me because it sure as hell did. Another thing about this house, I feel like it is jiving to the music of the storm right now. UPstairs it is literally shifting a couple inches. I didn't think houses should do that. Another thing is that I noticed the house wasn't heating up as it did last week before I went to graduation. I noticed when I started a fire tonight that the flew was wide open! Oh well, I've had a roaring fire going all night it works well.

Anywho, I just bought three things on Borders.com, which is actually Amazon nowadays. I bought a Bette Midler CD, a book by Nadine Gordimer (my fav author who happens to be a Saffa.) and a book by Che Guevara. It is actually THE book that the movie Motorcycle Diaries are based upon. I thought it would be good research material for my time in Africa. Who knows? Maybe we will get a Walkabout Diary from yours truly during his time in Africa.

Oh yeah I have one more thing to talk about. Today while I was cleaning the house (since it is so rainy I feel like a domestic here) I was plugged into my iPod and starting singing at the top of my voice. I haven't done that in so long and guess what, it felt GOOD. I felt like I had found myself again. I'm on my way.

Thats it.

PS. 26.5.2005 would have been my mom's 59th bday so anyone who reads this, keep her and my dad in your thoughts.

The midnight ride of Paul Revere

The other night I decided to go out with some people I met on market square to see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It was a brilliant film. They kept very faithful to the book. I reccommend everyone to see it.

Anyway, I had to ride five miles in the dark because everyone lived in Dover or Portsmouth and I live in Rye now, five miles south of Portsmouth. It wasn't that far or that scary of an experience but every person who I passed who was out walking his dog looked at me as if I had six heads. I felt I should just stir things up in this white bread coastal community by shouting a 21st Century updated version of the New England call "The Arabs are Coming the Arabs are coming!" But then I may have gotten arrested.

I'm in a very sarcastic mood right now because I am watching Ab Fab. They have a mother's day marathon on BBC America! Its abolutely brill sweetie darling. I know I talk about television in almost every blog entry, but I watch alot of it. But my old next door neighbor is coming for a visit this tuesday. I have lots planned for her.

Just a note about my lost blog, I think silence is golden now. I've noticed with my family here in NH that we can just sit in silence reading books or watching some TV. Sometimes much more can be said with out saying anything at all.

More soon

Silence is Golden

(silence)......

Okay...

I don't know how to add more than one photo at a time to this blog, I"m stupid!

This is my first friend's Wedding that I went to. Enjoy! 

This is me in Sydney 

Ugh

That is how I feel today. I'm sitting in NH, just talked to my brother and got my whole ideas for travelling back and forth to NY for graduation shot to hell. It wasn't his fault though, the car is old and I haven't seen it in almost a year so I really have no idea. I just had all these good ideas of fun road trips to and from LIU. But we will see what can be done. I'm not going to let that get me down. I'm not going to let anything get me down because I just have accomplished an amazing feat of graduating college.

I'm sure all of you have heard about my trip to the dentist yesterday. I realised that I had no insurance after the fact. They say I have a cavity, a filling needs replaced, and a crown needs to be redone. To the grand total of $1500. NO THANKS! I've got to go tomorrow to get my xrays and just leave. I hope that Peace Corps wont stop me from going. I'll get insurance as soon as I am with them. Oh god I need to get outside into the sun. This is driving me batty, my lacadasical existance here in Rye. I wish, no I don't wish anything, I have a job, it is just starting on the 15th and I am out of my mind here because I can't get motivated.

More soon

This is Nicole's Wedding 

weather dependant... just got angry

I just read on the bbcnews website that a 13 year old girl is not allowed to have an abortion because she is too young to chose! WHERE ARE THESE PEOPLE"S MORALS? By doing this they advocate a soceity of "gee its okay to have sex and get pregnant cause the State will take care of the baby! Then they bitch when us liberal thinkers want health care.

Anywho, my aunt and uncle are supposed to come up today. Its' pissing down rain again and it is kind of annoying because I wanted to go into Portsmouth. Hopefully tomorrow of Monday will be clear and I will be able to go in!

Talk soon

Oh What a Day!

Today has been a frustrating yet fruitful day. I’ve got to start waking up earlier; otherwise I will die when a job starts. Now I’ve just gotten back from job interview with a friend of Mike’s, my cousin. He basically hired me but I am not so sure I want to do it. You get paid $8.50 an hour incentive based and have to work 80 hours within two weeks. Anthony told me that his brother is working for him so rides would not be an issue. Now I just have to decide what to do and I have to tell him tomorrow. It would start with the 15th of May and he wouldn’t mind that I have to go back to LI for graduation.

Now I was supposed to hear from the beach today and I think I didn’t get the job. Unless he calls me tomorrow morning. Ed and Rene had called tonight to talk. They’ll come up tomorrow and we are going to the country club for lunch or dinner. I feel really privileged being here in all aspects of life. I mean I was walking along the beach today, towards the public part of it and I was the only one coming from the private section of the beach. When I was in town today (which is a whole different story) I told some people that I lived on Ocean Boulevard in Rye, everyone thought I was instantly made of $£ then. :O)

Going into town today was a nice little trip. I didn’t like the grid bridge that I came across on the way into town. What makes it difficult is that my tires are thin because I’m on a racing bike. The spaces in the grid are about the same size as my tires. It was kind of scary rolling along and not being able to move even the slightest right to left without completely falling over. But in town there are two jobs that I would really like and I am going to try for them tomorrow. One is at a bagel shop that closes at 5 or 6 (depending on the day) and the other one is at the box office (part time job) at the Seacoast Reparatory Theatre. Anthony had said that if I wanted another job it would have to be at night. Ed had asked as well if I had gotten a job at the SRT yet and I told him they were hiring. Anyone have any suggestions of what I should do?

Another thing I wanted to ask anyone who may come across this blog. I’ve noticed that my jaw is hurting pretty badly. I’ve woken myself up on many an occasion since September due to my teeth grinding. What should I do to stop it?

Fresh Aire Fund Kid

So I had a nice surprise this morning when I published my blog from yesterday. My childhood next door neighbor and one of my best friends still is reading this blog. I don’t want to embarrass her but hiya Cait! :O) I know I am repeating what I wrote yesterday but not much happens on a daily basis here even though I feel like I am accomplishing much. I just saw a horrible commercial for tires. There are these two gorgeous couples dancing in the rain. The men have rippling muscles and are in tighter than tight clothing while the women are shapely and thin and clinging to their stallions. I don’t understand why sex needs to be used to sell tires. The whole thing behind the commercial had to do with the tires being v. good in the rain. Why does sex need to be used to sell tires? This commercial didn’t make me want to run out and buy Bridgewater tires, in fact it did the contrary. I got repulsed.

I’m watching a special on the Hitler, oops History Channel now. It is the history of execution. We are such barbarians to each other. Every ten years we seem to try and invent another “humane” way of killing each other. They just said that the Nazis ruined the Americans chance of using the gas chamber to kill people. Lethal injection was introduced in 1982 and now it is such a bastardizing of death that no one knows really who owns death. 108 countries have abolished the death penalty while 78 retained it. Japan and the US are the only developed countries to retain the death penalty, the US and the UK are the only developed countries where torture is a known political tool even though it is outright banned. Why are we so evil to each other?

I’ve got some news to update on. I have an interview with a friend of my cousin tomorrow night to see if he wants to hire me to help him with his painting company this summer. I am waiting for the guy from the beach club to give me a call and hopefully I will get that job. Wish me luck!

Oh, I forgot to comment on my title. I always try to think of witty titles for my blogs and then I usually forget to comment on them. Anyway, today was a weird day weather wise. There must be a wicked storm off the coast because the ocean is crazy white. But I titled this FAFK because I felt like I was the poor little city boy today because I went and watched the waves crashing against the rocks for one or two hours. I wonder…

Live Free or Die

Live free or die?

I have been back in the States just under two weeks now. Actually it will be two week tomorrow. I have experienced a lot within those two weeks, from getting stranded in Norwalk because of an “I forgot” to possibly uncovering a family secret. Who knows what will happen within the next few days. I’ve been accused lately of rolling with the punches in life. I think it is only in the last two weeks that I have been rolling with the punches. I genuinely believe that life has something in store for me and it is my job to discover what that is.

Yesterday I had a very good interview at the surf club down the beach from me. I am hoping that this job materializes because as I noticed today, getting around here when it is dark and raining. I’ve been stuck in the house all day because of the storm that is raging somewhere in the Atlantic. I couldn’t see the beach for most of the day, for those of you who know this place, (basically Noel and Jess) that is roughly 25 feet in front of me at the bottom of the dune. I got soaked going to the mailbox and sat chilling in the house. I’ve caught up on email today and gotten things in order. Made a few phone calls and meditated. A friend of my cousin is starting up a house painting business this summer. I left a message with him. He probably thinks I am some weirdo that phoned him but I left my name and it was obviously his cell phone so the number of my uncle’s house would have shown up on his caller ID. I’m afraid I may not have been perfectly professional with my message for him. I’ll give him another call tomorrow and see what it is about.

The last bit of news I have today is that yet ANOTHER FUCKING thing is wrong with my Peace Corps application. I need some more X-rays done with my teeth. Luckily though I passed a dentist on my bike ride yesterday. So I found them in the phone book and called them today. I’ll call them again tomorrow and see what I can do.

Wait there is another thing. Live free or die? That is the state motto of New Hampshire. Any ideas why?


PS. I just discovered that one of my best friends is reading this blog! I'm so glad!

My First Wedding

So now I am back in the States. Who knows, maybe no one is reading this. Let me know if there is anyone out there that I don't know who is reading this. I'm sitting at my friend's house in my hometown of Norwalk CT and we are both engrossed in National Geographic articles and I thought I should talk about what happened to me last night.

Last night was the long awaited wedding of my highschool prom date. She married here college sweetheart and it was a sweet wedding. THEY HAD LOX!!!!! I think I may have cleared an entire plate out of it. But anyway, it was weird first of all being back in the States and being with a friend of mine at the wedding. BTW I got the garter belt. It was pretty funny. They made me put in on the leg of this girl that I did not know. It was pretty funny though I hammed it up to the nth degree. Nicole was happy that I wore purple for her. I had a purple tie and a purple shirt. It was well put together and I saw so many people that I liked hanging out with.

Another thing of news, I'm moving to NH toa beach house for the summer. My uncle told me that he got me a job interview at the local beach club for saturday. Keep your fingers crossed

Sitting on the Border

As I sit here watching the funeral of Pope John Paul II, I'm thinking about the city of Slubice across the Oder river and further into the country of Poland. Last night Torsten and I went to Poland for dinner. The two of us ate full meals with drink for about Zl 30 which is about €7,50 or US$9, what ever currency it was, it couldn't be done in Germany. On my way here, while i was still in England, I looked up Frankfurt (Oder) in the latest Lonely Planet Germany. Now according to them, Slubice and Frankfurt (Oder) were one city until about 60 years ago. Then the German border was rolled right up to the river which is less than 500 metres from me right now. Millions of Germans literally had their country pulled out from under them. Even now 60 years after the forcible "Polnification" some of the elderly in Western Poland speak Polish with a thick German accent. Last night at dinner, our waitress couldn't speak a word of German (English was out of the question) and neither of us could speak a word of Polish. Yet somehow we understood each other. I know it wasn't that hard because ordering a Pizza is a pretty universal thing the world over. However, it still was an unbelievable experience. Today, Torsten is taking an exam at University and I had planned to go for Breakfast in Poland, good food and cheap as well-but i noticed that Poland is in National mourning for the Pope. NOTHING is open. Yet over here on the German side of the river the day goes onwards. What I'm trying to get at is that the physical borders are there but we are still human beings on both sides of it. Besides this border is only 60 years old.

A total aside. When Germans go to Poland they only have to show their ID cards (used to the same degree as an American Drivers License) but because I'm not European, I have to show my passport. Now I came into Berlin yesterday morning, and got a visa stamped into my passport. Then I left Germany at Frankfurt, and got another Visa stamped into my passport. Poland gave me and entrance Visa, no exit but Germany gave me another entrance visa. So in 12 hours I left Germany once and entered twice... now I have only 4 pages left in my Passport (45 stamps are there) Where to next?

The start of the journey

Today I am finally leaving the UK. I realised alot recently about my relationship with the really crazy island. In FW I've always been thinking that I really miss having a "home base" campus like the students who stay in one country. It is something I have missed a lot. But then I realised this morning as I was taking the bus down Muswell Hill to the centre of London... Muswell Hill and London have been my base since I have been in Friends World. Somehow I keep coming back to this amazing city, even though it is the most expensive city in the world. But I will miss this city alot, and I will be back! Now I am off to Germany more specifically Berlin to see my friend Torsten. My fliight is leaving from Luton, an hour and a half from London at 6.30 tomorrow morning but I have to be at the airport at 4 the latest. I have to leave for the airport around 22.00(ten PM) so I will have to wait around the airport for a long long long time...

One hell of a week

So I really think the end of the world is near. EIther that or I Have to stop going to Germany. Every time I have gone since living there, so big world figure has died. In 2002 the Queen Mum died here in England, when I went last November, Yasser Arafat died and at the rate we are going now, the Pope will hang on until I get to Germany. Oh well, at least I will be in the Protestant area of the country!